Cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene from Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT

A cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene, a recombinant DNA molecule prepared by introducing said gene into a vector used in an E. coli host-vector system, E. coli cells transformed with said recombinant DNA molecule, a protein having the amino acid sequence encoded by said gene, an enzyme which is a multimer of said protein, and a process for preparing said protein or enzyme are provided, said cephalosporin acetylhydrolase being an enzyme useful for converting cephalosporins such as cephalosporin C and 7-ACA into deacetylated ones such as deacetylcephalosporin C and deacetyl 7-ACA which are useful as an intermediate for preparing a variety of derivatized cephalosporin antibiotics.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene, a recombinant DNA molecule prepared by introducing said gene into a vector used in an Escherichia coli host-vector system, E. coli cells transformed with said recombinant DNA molecule, a protein having an amino acid sequence encoded by said gene, an enzyme comprising a multimer, preferably tetramer or octamer, of said protein, and a process for preparing said protein or enzyme.

PRIOR ART

Cephalosporins such as cephalosporin C and 7-aminocephalosporanic acid (hereafter referred to as 7-ACA) were hitherto derived by eliminating the acetyl group bonded to the hydroxymethyl group at their 3-position (hereafter referred to as deacetylation) to deacetylated compounds, such as deacetylcephalosporin C and deacetyl 7-ACA, which are useful as starting material to synthesize a variety of cephalosporin antibiotics including those already on the market.

As a method for deacetylation of cephalosporins, there exist chemical and enzymatic methods. Of these methods, the latter is believed to be advantageous partly because it can be performed at an approximately neutral pH and at mild temperature and partly because it accompanies less side reaction. Several enzymatic methods have been already disclosed (for example, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 108,790/1984, 132,294/1974 and 67,489/1986, and U.S. Patent No. 3,304,236).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors have found that a strain of Bacillus subtilis isolated from soil produces cephalosporin acetylhydrolase and efficiently produces deacetylcephalosporins by deacetylation of cephalosporins. This finding has led the inventors to the idea that the construction of a microorganism capable of preferentially producing the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase by recombinant DNA technology would be industrially very advantageous for preparing deacetylcephalosporins. Such a microorganism remarkably producing only cephalosporin acetylhydrolase is not known so far.

The present inventors have made an extensive study and succeeded in isolating a DNA fragment carrying a cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene from B. subtilis newly isolated from soil and in cloning of said DNA fragment in E. coli. They also found that E. coli transformed with a plasmid vector, into which said DNA fragment had been inserted, produced a remarkable amount of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase. The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above findings.

Thus, the present invention provides a cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene, a recombinant DNA molecule containing said gene, E. coli cells transformed with said recombinant DNA moleculo, a protein having an amino acid sequence encoded by said gene, an enzyme comprising a multimer of said protein, and a process for preparing said protein or enzyme.

The newly isolated strain, Bacillus subtilis SHS0133, from which the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene was obtained according to the present invention, was deposited at the Fermentation Research Institute, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, 1-3, Higashi 1 chome, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305, Japan under Budapest Treaty with the accession number FERM BP-2755 (Date: Feb. 15, 1990).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the amino acid sequence of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase. (SEQ ID NO: 1).

FIGS. 2a and 2b depict the base sequence of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene (the lower row) (SEQ ID NO: 2) and the amino acid sequence deduced therefrom (the upper row). (SEQ ID NO: 3)

FIG. 3 depicts the partially determined amino acid sequence (34 amino acid residues) of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase. (SEQ ID NO: 4). X indicates an unidentified residue. The underlined portion of the sequence shows the amino acid sequence used to derive the sequence of oligonucleotide probes.

FIG. 4 depicts four synthetic oligonucleotide probes including all of the genetically possible DNA base sequences deduced from the underlined amino acid sequence in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts the restriction enzyme cleavage map of recombinant plasmid pCAH01 and the position at which the DNA probe hybridizes.

FIG. 6 depicts the restriction enzyme cleavage map of recombinant plasmid pCAH03.

FIGS. 7a and 7b depict the DNA sequence of the cloned cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene and flanking regions (the upper row) (SEQ. ID. NO. 12) and the amino acid sequence deduced therefrom (the lower row) (SEQ. ID. NO. 13) *** indicates a termination codon.

FIG. 8 depicts the construction of miniaturized plasmid pCAH10 which corresponds to plasmid pCAH03 but deletes a region downstream of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene.

FIG. 9 depicts the construction of expression plasmid pCAH21 used in E. coli.

FIG. 10 depicts the construction of expression plasmids pCAH211 and pCAH212 used in E. coli.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Characteristics of B. subtilis SHS0133

1. G+C mole percent(%) of chromosomal DNA : 43.4

2. Morphological characteristics

The strain is a gram-positive, short rod-shaped bacterium of 0.7-0.8×1.8-2.6 μm in size, and is peritrichous. This strain grows well under an aerobic condition and also grows weakly in a natural medium containing glucose under an anaerobic condition. Spore, 0.8× 1.3-1.7 μin size, is formed in the central part of the cell.

3. Cultural characteristics

(1) Meat extract agar plate culture (at 30° C., for 7 days)

Colony formation : 24 hours after inoculation

Shape : irregular

Surface : gilled

Margin : undulate

Elevation : convex

Color : cream

Luster : dull

Optical property : opaque

(2) Meat extract agar slant culture (at 30° C., for 7 days)

Growth : good

Shape : filiform

Surface : gilled

Color : cream

Luster : dull

Optical property : opaque

Consistency : butyrous

(3) Meat extract broth culture (at 30° C., for 7 days)

Growth on surface : thick film is formed

Clouding : slight

Odor : slightly aromatic

Sediment : visid

Amount of sediment : scanty

(4) Meat extract gelatin stab culture (at 24° C., for 30 days)

Growth : grows uniformly along the stab line

Line of puncture : filiform

Mode of liquefaction : liquefied on 7th day at 24° C. to form 0.5mm of liquefied layer (stratiform)

(5) Litmus milk culture

Litmus is reduced. Casein is digested rapidly without coagulation.

4. Biochemical characteristics

(1) Reduction of nitrate : positive

(2) Denitrification : positive

(3) MR test : negative

(4) VP test : positive

(5) Formation of indole : negative

(6) Formation of H₂ S lead acetate paper : negative

TSI: negative

Krigler : negative

(7) Hydrolysis of starch : positive

(8) Utilization of citrate :

Koser : positive

Christensen : positive

(9) Utilization of inorganic nitrogen source :

nitrate : positive

ammonium : positive

(10) Formation of pigment : brown pigment was formed

(11) Urease test : positive

(12) Oxidase test : positive

(13) Catalase test : positive

(14) pH :

growth range : 1.5-8.8

optimum : 6.0-8.8

(15) Temperature :

growth range : 16.5° C.-50.5° C.

optimum : 26.0° C.-36.0° C.

(16) OF test :

D-glucose : produces acids fermentatively without generating gas

lactose : produces acids fermentatively without generating gas

(17) Formation of acids and gas from sugars :

i) produces acids and no gas from L-arabinose, D-xylose, D-glucose, D-mannose(D-fructose, maltose, sucrose, trehalose, D-mannitol, glycerol, and starch;

ii) produces neither acids nor gas from D-galactose, lactose, D-sorbitol, and inositol.

(18) Nutritional requirement : none

(19) Degradation of pectin : positive

(20) Degradation of hippuric acid : negative

(21) Formation of levan (from sucrose, raffinose) : positive

(22) Arginine hydrolase : negative

(23) Lecithinase : negative

(24) Growth under anaerobic condition : grows weakly in natural medium containing D-glucose.

From the above results, the strain was identified to be one strain of B. subtilis on the basis of Bergey,s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Vol.II, 1986, and designated as Bacillus subtilis SHS0133.

The present invention encompasses a process for preparing cephalosporin acetylhydrolase using a recombinant microorganism transformed with a recombinant DNA molecule prepared by introducing into a vector used in an E. coli host-vector system an isolated DNA base sequence encoding the amino acid sequence depicted in FIG. 1, preferably the DNA base sequence depicted in FIG. 2. This process may be realized by following the next seven steps which represent the history of the development of the present invention, although the process can be achieved by more simple procedure because of the reason that the DNA base sequence encoding the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase is revealed by this invention.

(1) Bacillus subtilis (FERM BP-2755) is cultured in an appropriate medium and allowed to produce cephalosporin acetylhydrolase, and the produced cephalosporin acetylhydrolase is separated from the medium and purified. The purified enzyme is digested with an appropriate protease used in fragmentation of a protein, the resultant peptide fragments are separated, and then the amino acid sequence of one of the peptide fragments is determined from the amino terminus.

(2) Possible DNA base sequences corresponding to a part of the amino acid sequence determined are deduced, and a pool of oligonucleotides having the deduced base sequences are chemically synthesized, and the 5'-terminus of the oligonucleotides was labeled with ³² P. The labeled oligonucleotides are used as probes for gene cloning.

(3) Chromosomal DNA is extracted and purified from B. subtilis, (FERM BP-2755) digested with various restriction enzymes, electrophoresed on agarose gel, and the separated DNA fragments are transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane from the gel. Southern hybridization is then conducted using the nitrocellulose membrane and the ³² P-labeled probes prepared in the above step (2) to select DNA fragments showing homology to the probes. Of the DNA fragments, a somewhat larger fragment as compared with the size of the desired gene expected from the molecular weight of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase protein is selected, relevant region on agarose gel containing the DNA fragment is excised, and the DNA is extracted.

(4) The DNA fragment from the above step (3) is inserted into an E. coli cloning vector and the resultant recombinant plasmid is introduced into E. coli cells by transformation. The transformants are plated on an agar medium to form colonies, and colony hybridization is conducted using the ³² P-labeled probes. The colony of E. coli showing homology with the probe is selected and isolated.

(5) The recombinant plasmid DNA is extracted from the selected E. coli cells and the restriction enzyme cleavage map is constructed. Subsequently, the region irrelevant to cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene is eliminated. The base sequence of the B. subtilis-derived DNA fragment encoding the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase is determined. Amino acid sequence deduced from the determined DNA base sequence is then compared with the partial amino acid sequence, molecular weight, terminal amino acid analysis and amino acid composition analysis of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase, and the structural gene for the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase is determined.

(6) The DNA fragment containing cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene is properly modified and then introduced into a gene expression vector for E. coli so that the structural gene is connected after a promoter derived from E. coli, to construct a recombinant plasmid for expression.

(7) The recombinant expression plasmid obtained above is introduced into an E. coli host by transformation to prepare a novel E. coli strain producing cephalosporin acetylhydrolase.

The procedures employed in the above steps are known to those skilled in the art and can be readily carried out according to an experimental protocol disclosed in standard text books, such as "Molecular Cloning", T. Maniatis et al., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1982). All of the materials used, such as enzymes and reagents, are commercially available and may be used according to the supplier's instructions.

E. coli used as a host may be a strain of E. coli K-12 derivatives such as HB101, DHl, C600, JM103, JM105 and JM109. As an E. coli vector used in cloning, a plasmid vector such as pUC13, pBR322 and pAT153 as well as a phage vector such as λgt10 can be exemplified. The above-mentioned hosts and vectors are commercially available and easily obtainable.

In the above step (1), the amino acid sequencing of a protein is known (for example, a commercially available automated amino acid sequencer may be used). In the above step (2), the synthesis of the oligonucleotides can be carried out using a commercially available DNA synthesizer according to the supplier's protocol. In the above step (5), the determination of the DNA base sequence can be performed according to the method by Sanger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 74, 5463 -5467(1977), where a known M13 vector system is employed.

In the above step (6), the construction of a plasmid to direct efficient expression of the desired gene in E. coli may be carried out by inserting the DNA fragment containing the desired cephalosporin acetylhydrolase structural gene into an expression vector (pKK223-3, pBS, pDR540, pPL-lambda, etc.) containing a suitable promoter (Lac, Tac, Trc, Trp, P_(L), etc.) functional in a host and Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence, or into an ATG vector (pKK233-2, etc.) which additionally contains the translational initiation codon ATG. Introduction of the expression plasmid into a suitable host (for example, such a strain as E. coli JM103, JM109, HB101 and C600) yields a microorganism efficiently expressing cephalosporin acetylhydrolase.

The expressed cephalosporin acetylhydrolase may be purified according to a conventional purification method, for example, by combining centrifugation, column chromatography and the like.

The present invention is further illustrated by the following Example, but not limited thereto.

EXAMPLE 1 1. Separation and Purification of Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolase and Determination of Cartial Amino Acid Sequence (1) Separation and Purification of Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolas

A medium (20L) composed of 2.5% glucose, 0.75% corn steep liquor, 1.0% amino acids mixture, 0.3% KH and 0.8ppm MnSO₄.4H₂ O, pH 7.0 was charged into a 30L volume of jar-fermentor. After sterilization, B. subtilis (FERM BP-2755) which had been precultured in a medium composed of 0.5% glucose, 0.75% corn steep liquor, 0.5% amino acids mixture, and 0.02% KH₂ PO₄, pH 7.0, was poured into the medium so as to obtain 6% of inoculum size. After 48 hours of cultivation at 28° C., activated charcoal was added to the cultured fluid to 1%, and stirred for 2 hours. Subsequent filtration gave a crude enzyme solution as filtrate. To the crude enzyme solution, DEAE Sephadex A-50 (Pharmacia) was added to 0.7%, and the mixture was adjusted to pH 8.0 using 2N NaOH and then stirred for one hour. After filtration, DEAE Sephadex A- 50, on which cephalosporin acetylhydrolase activity was adsorbed, was washed with 50mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0)(4L) containing 0.1 M NaCl, and the activity was then eluted with the same buffer containing 0.4 M NaCl. After concentration and desalting by an ultrafiltration apparatus (Tosoh), the activity was adsorbed onto a column filled with DEAE Sepharose CL-6B (Pharmacia) which had been previously equilibrated with the same buffer. The column was washed with the same buffer and subsequently that containing 0.15 M NaCl, and the activity was then eluted with the same buffer containing 0.2 M NaCl. After concentration and desalting by ultrafiltration, purification with high performance liquid chromatography (hereafter referred to as HPLC) was performed. DEAE Toyopearlpak 650 M (Tosoh) was used as the column. The activity was eluted by concentration gradient elution method where salt concentration was sequentially raised. Thus, starting with the same buffer containing 0.15 M NaCl, the concentration of NaCl was sequentially raised to 0.5 M. Fractions containing the eluted activity were collected, concentrated by ultrafiltration, and then purified by HPLC using a molecular sieve column. TSK-G3000 (Tosoh) was used as the column and 0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) was used as the mobile phase. The eluted active fractions were collected, concentrated by ultrafiltration, and then purified by HPLC using a reversed phase column. Microbondapak C₁₈ (Waters) was used as the column and the elution was carried out by concentration gradient elution method where acetonitrile concentration was sequentially raised. Thus, starting with aqueous system containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, the acetonitrile concentration was raised to the final concentration of 98%. The fractions containing the eluted cephalosporin acetylhydrolase were concentrated under reduced pressure at 50° C. and the residue was dissolved in 0.5 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) containing 6 M guanidine hydrochloride. To the solution, EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) was added to obtain 2mM of concentration, and 200-fold mole amount of 2-mercaptoethanol relative to cephalosporin acetylhydrolase was added to the solution, and the reduction was performed at 37° C. for 4 hours under the nitrogen atmosphere. Subsequently, 190-fold mole amount of sodium iodoacetate relative to cephalosporin acetylhydrolase was added to the solution and reacted at 37° C. for 10 minutes in the dark to perform reductive carboxymethylation. Then, the purification by HPLC using a reversed phase column was conducted again according to the above method. The resulting cephalosporin acetylhydrolase fractions were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) according to the procedure of Laemmli, Nature, 227, 680-685(1970). Only a single band was detected at a position of molecular weight of 35kD, implying that purification was achieved homogeneously. In addition, the facts that the purified cephalosporin acetylhydrolase solubilized in 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) containing 7 M urea was reactivated by 10-fold dilution with 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), and that the activity was eluted at a position of molecular weight of 280kD by a molecular sieve column chromatography using the above-mentioned HPLC suggested that the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase in a natural form is the octamer consisting of homogeneous subunits.

On the other hand, the molecular weight determined using the procedure of Hedrick et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 126, 155-164(1968) was about 150 kD and the activity was detected at the relevant position, which suggested that the tetramer is also active.

Amino acid terminal analysis of the purified cephalosporin acetylhydrolase by Edman degradation and hydrazin hydrolysis identified the amino terminus to be methionine and the carboxy terminus to be glycine.

(2) Determination of Partial Amino Acid Sequence of Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolase

The purified cephalosporin acetylhydrolase (1 mg) was solubilized in 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.8)(1.0 ml) containing 2 M urea, and lysylendopeptidase (0.01 mg) was added t the solution and the mixture was reacted at 37° C. for 4 hours. The reaction mixture was then separated by HPLC. Microbondapak C₁₈ (Waters) was used as the column and the elution was carried out by concentration gradient elution method sequentially raising acetonitrile concentration. Thus, starting with aqueous system containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, the acetonitrile concentration was raised to final concentration of 98%. The detection was carried out at 214 nm. Of the separated peaks, distinctive fractions having a long retention time were collected and again purified using the same reversed phase column, and the amino acid sequence of the peptide was analyzed using a gas phase automated amino acid sequencer (Applied Biosystems) to determine the amino acid sequence from amino terminus to 34th amino acid of the peptide fragment, as shown in FIG. 3.

2. Synthesis of DNA Probes and Labelling the 5'-Termini

The sequence underlined in the amino acid sequence in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO: 5) obtained by the above step 1 was selected and a pool of oligonucleotides corresponding to all of the genetically possible DNA base sequences (SEQ ID NOS. 6 and 7) deduced from this amino acid sequence were synthesized. As shown in FIG. 4, 4 groups of the oligonucleotides, which were designated as DNA probes CAH-RM1, (SEQ. ID. No. 8), CAH-RM2 (SEQ. ID. NO. 9), CAH-RMN3 (SEQ. ID. NO. 10), and CAH-RM4 (SEQ. ID. NO. 11) synthesized. Synthesis of the oligonucleotides was conducted using automated DNA synthesizer ZEON-GENET A-II (Nihon Zeon).

5'-Termini of the resulting DNA probes were labeled using T4 polynucleotide kinase and [γ-³² P]ATP according to the procedure of Wallace et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 6, 3543-3557(1979).

3. Extraction and Purification of Chromosomal DNA From B. subtilis and Southern Hybridization

Cells of B. subtilis (FERM BP-2755) were treated with lysozyme followed by sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate, and the chromosomal DNA was extracted and purified from the resulting lysate by CsCl-ethidium bromide equilibrium density gradient ultracentrifugation according to the procedure of Harris-Warrick et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 72, 2207-2211(1975). The DNA (1 μg) was digested with various restriction enzymes (each about 10 units) under a suitable condition, and the reactants were electrophoresed on 0.8% agarose gel. After the analysis of restriction enzyme cleavage pattern, the gel was subjected to Southern hybridization according to the procedure of Southern et al., J. Mol. Biol., 98, 503-517(1975). The gel was treated with 1.5 M NaCl solution containing 0.5N NaOH at room temperature for 1 hour to denature DNA, and then neutralized in 1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.0) containing 1.5 M NaCl at room temperature for 1 hour. A nitrocellulose membrane was then placed on the gel to transfer the DNA from the gel to the membrane. Using the DNA-transferred nitrocellulose membrane, the hybridization with the labeled probes was carried out. The hybridization was conducted at 38° C. overnight using 4-fold concentration of SSC (1×SSC: 0.15 M NaCl, 0.015 M sodium citrate, pH 7.0), 10-fold concentration of Denhardt's solution (1×Denhardt's solution : 0.02 % Ficoll, 0.02% polyvinylpyrrolidone, 0.02% bovine serum albumin), and about 1×10⁶ cpm/ml of the labeled probes. The membrane was washed several times with 4-fold concentration of SSC at room temperature, and then subjected to autoradiography. In addition, the washing temperature of the membrane was raised stepwise, and the membrane was provided for autoradiography repeatedly in each case. It was found that several DNA bands show positive signals even at the high washing temperatures such as 48° C. and 53° C., and that the sizes of the hybridizing bands differ each other depending on the restriction enzymes employed. Out of the DNA fragments showing positive signal, 2.5-3 kb DraI digested and 4-4.5kb HindIII digested fragments were preferable for gene cloning because their sizes were larger than the desired gene.

4. Cloning of Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolase Gene

(1) Construction of Gene Library

To the chromosomal DNA (12 μg) from B. subtilis extracted and purified in the above step 3, restriction enzyme DraI (about 120 units) was added and incubated at 37° C. for 90 minutes. The reactant was then extracted with equal volume of phenol, and ethanol was added to the resulting aqueous layer to precipitate DNA. The resulting DNA was dissolved in TE buffer [10 mM Tris-HCl, 1 mM EDTA, pH 8.0](60 μl), the resultant solution was electrophoresed on 0.8% agarose gel, and a region of the gel corresponding to a size of 2-4kb was excised. DNA fragments were eluted and recovered from the gel using a commercially available kit (Bio 101, GENECLEAN), and dissolved in TE buffer (30 μl).

On the other hand, pUC13 was used as a vector for constructing a gene library. pUC13 (10 μg) was mixed with restriction enzyme SmaI (about 100 units), incubated at 37° C. for 140 minutes, and then treated at 65° C. for 10 minutes. Alkaline phosphatase (BAP)(about 20 units) was added to the mixture and further reacted at 65° C. for 80 minutes. Phenol extraction followed by ethanol precipitation of DNA was carried out according to the above procedure and the DNA was finally dissolved in TE buffer (50μl).

The solution containing the DraI digested fragments of B. subtilis chromosome (7.5 μl) and the solution containing the SmaI-BAP treated fragments of vector pUC13 (2.5μl) were combined, and the mixture was incubated with T4 DNA ligase at 6° C. for 20 hours to ligate the fragments, forming a recombinant DNA. The resultant recombinant DNA was used to transform E. coli HB101 strain according to the procedure of Hanahan et al., J. Mol. Biol., 166, 557 -580(1983). Subsequently, colonies were allowed to form on a nitrocellulose membrane placed on L-broth [1% bacto-tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 0.5% NaCl (pH 7.3)] agar medium containing 40 μg/ml ampicillin. These colonies were designated as the gene library of B. subtilis.

(2) Selection of Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolase-Positive Clone by Colony Hybridization

The colonies formed on the nitrocellulose membrane in the above step (1) were replicated on another nitrocellulose membrane. The replica membrane was placed on L-broth agar medium containing 40 μg/ml ampicillin and incubated at 37° C. for 3 hours. Then, the membrane was transferred on L-broth agar medium containing 250 μg/ml chloramphenicol and incubated at 37° C. overnight. Colony hybridization was then carried out substantially according to the procedure of Grunstein et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 72, 3961-3965(1975). Thus, the membrane was treated with 0.5 N NaOH (for 10-15 minutes) to effect lysis of colonies and denaturation of DNA. Subsequently, the membrane was neutralized with 1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.2) for 5-10 minutes and further treated with 1 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) containing 1.5 M NaCl for 10-15 minutes. After the membrane was baked under reduced pressure at 80° C. for 2 hours to immobilize DNA to the membrane, the immobilized DNA was hybridized with the labeled probe CAH-RM2. The reaction was carried out in a solution containing 4-fold concentration of SSC, 10-fold concentration of Denhardt solution and about 2×10⁶ cpm/ml of the labeled probe at 38° C. for 16 hours. Subsequently, the membrane was washed 3-4 times with 4-fold concentration of SSC at room temperature, then washed at 38° C. for 2 minutes, and subjected to autoradiography (exposure condition : -80° C., 3 hours). In order to examine the correlation between washing temperature and intensity of signal on the autoradiography, the washing temperature was further raised stepwise and the autoradiography was conducted in each case. The washing was carried out at 43° C., 48° C. and 53° C. each for 2 minutes.

As a result, it was found that 3 of about 30,000 colonies showed positive signal even at the high washing temperature. These colonies were liquid-cultured in L-broth (5 ml) containing 40 μg/ml ampicillin at 37° C. overnight and recombinant plasmids were prepared [procedure of Birnboim et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 7, 1513-1523(1979)]. These plasmids were cleaved and fragmented with a restriction enzyme such as EcoRI, HindIII and PvuII for which the vector DNA (pUC13) has a cleavage site. Then, electrophoresis was carried out on agarose gel and Southern hybridization with the labeled probe was carried out. As a result, it was found that two of three recombinant plasmids contained a restriction enzyme digested fragment clearly hybridizing with the DNA probe. The size of the hybridizing fragments differed between the two positive plasmids, and therefore, the DNA fragments inserted into the vector DNA appeared different each other. Accordingly, respective recombinant plasmids were distinguished and designated as pCAH01 and pCAH02.

5. Identification of Positive Clone and Determination of Base Sequence (1) Identification of Positive Clone

In the course of attempts to prepare restriction enzyme cleavage maps for the recombinant plasmids pCAH01 and pCAH02 by cleaving them with various restriction enzymes, it was found that plasmid pCAH01 has two different DraI digested fragments and plasmid pCAH02 has at least three different DraI digested fragments inserted into the SmaI site on the vector DNA, and that the DNA probe hybridizes with one of these DraI fragments. Consequently, the recombinant plasmid pCAH01 was used in the subsequent procedures. The restriction enzyme cleavage map of plasmid pCAH01 was depicted in FIG. 5 together with the position at where the DNA probe hybridized.

Since plasmid pCAH01 contains two exogenous DraI fragments derived from the chromosomal DNA of B. subtilis (1.8 kb and 2.5 kb) and only the 2.5 kb fragment hybridizes with the DNA probe, the 1.8 kb DraI fragment was deleted from the plasmid. DraI-PstI fragment (2.6 kb) containing the 2.5 kb fragment was removed from plasmid pCAH01 and inserted into SmaI-PstI site of vector plasmid pUC13 to obtain a miniaturized recombinant plasmid pCAH03 (5.3 kb). The restriction enzyme cleavage map of the recombinant plasmid pCAH03 was shown in FIG. 6.

(2) Determination of Base Sequence

From the recombinant plasmid pCAH03, 0.24 kb EcoRI-HindIII fragment to which the DNA probe had hybridized was removed and its DNA base sequence was determined according to the procedure of Sanger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 74, 5463-5467(1977). As a result, a base sequence corresponding to the partial amino acid sequence of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase obtained in the above step 1 was found in the EcoRI-HindIII fragment, revealing that the fragment contains a part of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene. By subsequent determination of the base sequence between DraI and HindIII sites (0.38 kb) as well as between EcoRI and EcoRI sites (1.45 kb) on the basis of the restriction enzyme cleavage map of plasmid pCAH03, the base sequence of about 2 kb between DraI and EcoRI sites was revealed as shown in FIG. 7. This proved the presence of a base sequence encoding a protein composed of 318 amino acid resideus containing methionine encoded by translational initiation codon ATG. In addition, the putative protein encoded by the above base sequence showed a good coincidence with the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase with respect to their molecular weight, amino-terminal and carboxy-terminal amino acids, as well as amino acid composition of lysylendopeptidase digested fragments and therefore, it was believed that this protein must be cephalosporin acetylhydrolase. Thus, it was proved that the structural gene of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase was entirely contained in the B. subtilis-derived DNA fragment on plasmid pCAH03.

6. Construction of Expression Plasmid

The cloned B. subtilis-derived DNA fragment on plasmid pCAH03 contains a region other than the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene, and therefore, the region considered to be irrelevant to phenotypic expression of the gene was deleted according to the process depicted in FIG. 8.

In order to drive high expression of a heterologous gene in E. coli, it is generally effective to construct an expression plasmid in which a desired structural gene is connected immediately after a sequence consisting of a promoter having a high expression efficiency, SD sequence and translational initiation codon ATG. Thus, in order to produce a large amount of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase in E. coli, an expression plasmid was constructed using a vector containing a promoter, SD sequence and ATG, according to the process depicted in FIG. 9. In the process of the construction, the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase structural gene can be prepared as follows. A region entirely containing the desired gene is cloned into a vector of M13 mp series to obtain a single-stranded DNA. According to a so-called primer extension method, using as a primer an oligonucleotide specifying several amino acids excluding methionine on the amino terminal sequence of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase, a DNA fragment in which only the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase structural gene moiety is double-stranded is obtained.

FIG. 10 shows the process for constructing a modified expression plasmid which shows increased copy number as compared with the expression plasmid prepared by the process in FIG. 9, and which bears tetracycline (Tc^(r)) resistance marker instead of ampicillin (Ap^(r)) resistance marker.

The followings are the more detailed description of each step.

(1) Construction of Miniaturized Plasmid

In order to shorten a downstream region of the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase structural gene (abbreviated as CAH in FIG. 8), plasmid pCAH03 was cleaved with EcoRV and BamHI, about 4.1 kb DNA fragment obtained was purified, and then the 3' recessed termini created by BamHI digestion were filled using DNA polymerase Klenow fragment(FIG. 8). After further purification, ligation was carried out using T4 DNA ligase to construct miniaturized plasmid pCAH10 containing the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene.

(2) Preparation of Single-Stranded DNA for Constructing Expression Plasmid

The miniaturized plasmid pCAH10 prepared in the above step (1) was cleaved with SacI and SalI and about 1.5 kb fragment obtained was purified and recovered as a SacI-SalI fragment. On the other hand, double-stranded phage M13 mpll DNA was cleaved with SacI and SalI. Then, to the latter was added the above SacI-SalI fragment and ligated with T4 DNA ligase to construct double-stranded phage M13-CAH DNA which contained the complete cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene. Subsequently, its single-stranded DNA was prepared according to the procedure of Messing, Methods in Enzymology, 101, 20-78(1983).

(3) Primer Extension

A region containing cephalosporin acetylhydrolase structural gene was prepared by eliminating a protein-noncoding region derived from B. subtilis, which locates upstream the initiation site (ATG) of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase, in substantial accordance with the procedure of Goeddel et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 8, 4057 -4074(1980). An oligonucleotide having a base sequence corresponding to the 2 nd amino acid glutamine to the 7th amino acid proline from amino terminus of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase was synthesized as a primer to be used in primer extension and designated as CAH-Pl. The primer CAH-Pl (3 pmole) was then added to the single-stranded DNA (7.5 μg) of phage M13-CAH prepared in the above step (2), and the mixture was heated to 60° C. for 20 minutes and then allowed to stand to room temperature. Subsequently, to the mixture were added dATP, dCTP, dGTP and dTTP (each 0.25 mM) as well as DNA polymerase Klenow fragment (2 units), and the primer extension was carried out at 37° C. for 2 hours in a reaction mix (20 μl) of 7 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.5), 7 mM MgCl₂, 0.1 mM EDTA, and 20 mM NaCl. After the reaction, phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation were conducted. The DNA was dissolved in a small amount of distilled water, to which Sl nuclease (4 units) was added and incubated at 37° C. for 30 minutes in a reaction mix (40 μl) of 30 mM sodium acetate (pH4.6), 100 mM NaCl and 1 mM ZnSO₄ to digest remaining single-stranded DNA. The solution containing the double-stranded DNA fragment obtained was subjected to phenol extraction followed by ethanol precipitation, and the DNA was treated with DNA polymerase Klenow fragment according to the above procedure for repair reaction of the termini.

(4) Construction of Expression Plasmid

The vector pKK233-2 (ampicillin resistance) used in the present example for constructing an expression plasmid is commercially available from Pharmacia. The vector is a member of ATG vectors, which contains Trc promoter and can be cleaved immediately after initiation codon ATG by digestion with restriction enzyme NcoI and filling of the 3' recessed termini. As depicted in FIG. 9, the DNA fragment obtained in the above step (3), which contains the cephalosporin acetylhydrolase structural gene, was cleaved with PstI, and 1.27 kb DNA fragment was separated and purified. On the other hand, pKK233-2 containing Trc promoter was cleaved with NcoI and treated with DNA polymerase Klenow fragment. The resulting fragment was then cleaved with PstI to obtain about 4.6 kb DNA fragment. Subsequently, the above two fragments were mixed and ligated each other with T4 DNA ligase, the resultant mixture was used to transform E. coli JM103 strain, and colonies formed on L-broth agar medium containing 40 μg/ml ampicillin were selected. These colonies were liquid-cultured in L-broth overnight, cells were collected, plasmid DNA was extracted from the cells, and the base sequence near the junction of the ATG vector and the fragment containing cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene was determined. As a result, an expression plasmid, in which the structural gene of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase excluding amino-terminal methionine had been inserted immediately after the ATG codon, was obtained and designated as pCAH21. Also, E. coli harboring the expression plasmid was designated as E. coli JM103/pCAH21.

The replication system of the expression plasmid pCAH21 is derived from pBR322. Accordingly, in order to enhance the copy number of this plasmid to raise the expression level in E. coli, its replication region (ori) was changed to that derived from pAT153. Simultaneously, its drug resistance marker was changed from ampicillin resistance (Ap^(r)) to tetracycline resistance (Tc^(r)). A process for modifying the plasmid was depicted in FIG. 10. Plasmid pCAH21 was first cleaved with BamHI and treated with DNA polymerase Klenow fragment. Then, the resulting fragment was cleaved with ScaI to obtain about 2.4 kb DNA fragment containing Trc promoter, cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene and T₁ T₂ terminator of 5S ribosomal RNA (5SrrnBT₁ T₂) Commercially available plasmid pAT153 was used as the vector plasmid. Plasmid pAT153 was cleaved with EcoRI, treated with DNA polymerase Klenow fragment, and then cleaved with DraI. Furthermore, in order to prevent self-ligation of the vector, alkaline phosphatase treatment was conducted, and about 2.5 kb DNA fragment containing the replication region and tetracycline resistance gene from pAT153 was prepared. Then, the above two DNA fragments were mixed and ligated with T4 DNA ligase, the resultant mixture was used to transform E. coli JM103 strain, and colonies formed on L-broth agar medium containing 20 μg/ml tetracycline were selected. After these colonies were cultured in L-broth overnight, cells were collected, and the plasmid DNA was extracted from the cells and analyzed by restriction enzyme cleavage. As a result, two recombinant plasmids which differ in orientation of ligation were obtained. One plasmid in which the orientation of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene was identical with that of tetracycline resistance gene was designated as pCAH211 and another plasmid in which these genes were reversely inserted was designated as pCAH212. Also, E. coli strains harboring these recombinant expression plasmids were designated as E. coli JM103/pCAH211 and E. coli JM103/pCAH212, respectively.

7 Expression of Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolase Gene in E. coli

(1) Expression of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene

E. coli JM103/pCAH211 or E. coli JM103/pCAH212 was inoculated on 2-fold concentration of L-broth (50 ml) containing 20 μg/ml tetracycline (in 0.5L volume flask) and cultured at 37° C. for 24 hours with shaking. An aliquot (0.5 ml) of the cultured fluid was centrifuged to collect cells. The cells were suspended in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)(0.5 ml) and disrupted with ultrasonicator. The supernatant obtained by centrifuging the solution was used as a sample solution containing the desired enzyme. On the other hand, the supernatant obtained by centrifuging the cultured fluid of B. subtilis (FERM BP-2755) obtained in the above step 1 was used as an enzyme solution for comparison. Cephalosporin acetylhydrolase acts not only on cephalosporin C and 7-ACA but also on p-nitrophenyl acetate (hereafter abbreviated to pNPA) to form colored substance, p-nitrophenol (hereafter abbreviated to pNP). The pNP is detectable spectrophotometrically, and therefore, the procedure in which pNPA is used as a substrate was adopted as a simple determination method for cephalosporin acetylhydrolase activity. Reaction was carried out in a mixture (3 ml) containing 0.02% pNPA, 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) and the above-mentioned enzyme solution at 30° C., and the enzyme activity was determined by measuring absorbance at 400 nm using a spectrophotometer. The amount of the enzyme producing 1 μ mole of pNP per minute under the condition of pH 6.8 and 30° C. of temperature was defined as one unit(U). As a result, it was found that the enzyme activities per cultured fluid of E. coli JM103/pCAH211 and E. coli JM103/pCAH212 were 9.9 U/ml and 12.4 U/ml, respectively. On the other hand, the enzyme activity of B. subtilis was 0.36 U/ml.

Furthermore, a plasmid was constructed in which Trc promoter and SD-ATG sequence of expression plasmid pCAH211 were replaced by Trp promoter and SD-ATG sequence derived from E. coli tryptophan operon. After the plasmid was introduced into E. coli JM109 by transformation, the resulting transformant was cultured in a similar manner as described above, and 75.5 U/ml of enzyme activity per cultured fluid was obtained.

The amount of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase produced can be increased by growing E. coli harboring these expression plasmids in a suitable medium under a suitable culture condition using a large scale culture apparatus such as jar-fermentor.

(2) Deacetylation of Cephalosporin C and 7-ACA

Deacetylation by an enzyme solution from E. coli JM103/pCAH212 was carried out using cephalosporin C or 7-ACA as a substrate. The reaction was conducted at 37° C. for 40 minutes after adding the enzyme solution (0.2 ml) to 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)(1.0 ml) containing 10 mM of the substrate, and terminated by addition of 0.2 M acetate buffer (pH 4.0)(1.2 ml). The resulting solution was subjected to HPLC, and deacetylcephalosporin C or deacetyl-7-ACA was measured. Cosmosil 5C₈ (Nacalai tesque) was used as a column and the elution was carried out by concentration gradient elution method where methanol concentration was sequentially raised. Thus, using a solution containing 20 mM NaH₂ PO₄, and 5 mM tetra-n-butylammonium hydroxide (TBAH), the methanol concentration was raised to 20%. Detection of the deacetylated product was carried out at 254 nm. Activity of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase was defined as follows. Thus, the amount of the enzyme producing 1 μmole of the product per minute under the condition of pH 7.0 and 37° C. of temperature is defined as one unit(U). As a result, it was found that the activity per cultured fluid of the enzyme solution of E. coli JM103/pCAH212 was 7.4 U/ml for both cephalosporin C and 7-ACA.

(3) Structure of Recombinant Cephalosporin Acetylhydrolase

Determination of molecular weights of the active form and subunit of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase produced in E. coli gave the same results as obtained in the above step 1, suggesting that the recombinant cephalosporin acetylhydrolase also exists in an octamer form similar to the natural form.

Furthermore, the recombinant cephalosporin acetylhydrolase was purified by HPLC using a reversed phase column. Terminal analysis by Edman degradation and hydrazine hydrolysis revealed that the amino and carboxy termini of the enzyme were methionine and glycine, respectively, and identical with those of natural form. In addition, determination of the amino terminal sequence using an automated amino acid sequencer revealed that the amino acid sequence to 25th amino acid was entirely identical with that deduced from the structural gene (FIG. 2).

Effects of the Invention

As described in the above Example in detail, the present inventors have confirmed that a great efficient production of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase is possible by cloning a gene encoding cephalosporin acetylhydrolase produced by B. subtilis and constructing a recombinant plasmid containing the gene by the use of a vector expressible in E. coli. This provides a premise for extensive application of this enzyme. In addition, the DNA fragment containing the cloned cephalosporin acetylhydrolase gene provides an extremely powerful means of advantageously utilizing the function of cephalosporin acetylhydrolase.

    __________________________________________________________________________     SEQUENCE LISTING                                                               (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:                                                       (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 13                                                  (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 317 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                         (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:                                        GlnLeuPheAspLeuProLeuAspGlnLeuGlnThrTyrLysProGlu                               151015                                                                         LysThrAlaProLysAspPheSerGluPheTrpLysLeuSe rLeuGlu                              202530                                                                         GluLeuAlaLysValGlnAlaGluProAspLeuGlnProValAspTyr                               354045                                                                          ProAlaAspGlyValLysValTyrArgLeuThrTyrLysSerPheGly                              505560                                                                         AsnAlaArgIleThrGlyTrpTyrAlaValProAspLysGlnGlyPro                                65707580                                                                      HisProAlaIleValLysTyrHisGlyTyrAsnAlaSerTyrAspGly                               859095                                                                          GluIleHisGluMetValAsnTrpAlaLeuHisGlyTyrAlaAlaPhe                              100105110                                                                      GlyMetLeuValArgGlyGlnGlnSerSerGluAspThrSerIleS er                              115120125                                                                      LeuHisGlyHisAlaLeuGlyTrpMetThrLysGlyIleLeuAspLys                               130135140                                                                      AspThr TyrTyrTyrArgGlyValTyrLeuAspAlaValArgAlaLeu                              145150155160                                                                   GluValIleSerSerPheAspGluValAspGluThrArgIleGlyVal                                165170175                                                                     ThrGlyGlySerGlnGlyGlyGlyLeuThrIleAlaAlaAlaAlaLeu                               180185190                                                                       SerAspIleProLysAlaAlaValAlaAspTyrProTyrLeuSerAsn                              195200205                                                                      PheGluArgAlaIleAspValAlaLeuGluGlnProTyrLeuGluIle                                210215220                                                                     AsnSerPhePheArgArgAsnGlySerProGluThrGluValGlnAla                               225230235240                                                                   M etLysThrLeuSerTyrPheAspIleMetAsnLeuAlaAspArgVal                              245250255                                                                      LysValProValLeuMetSerIleGlyLeuIleAspLysValThrPro                                260265270                                                                     ProSerThrValPheAlaAlaTyrAsnHisLeuGluThrGluLysGlu                               275280285                                                                      Le uLysValTyrArgTyrPheGlyHisGluTyrIleProAlaPheGln                              290295300                                                                      ThrGluLysLeuAlaPhePheLysGlnHisLeuLysGly                                        305 310315                                                                     (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 957 base pairs                                                     (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (iii) HYPOTHETICAL: NO                                                         (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 1..957                                                            (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:                                       ATGCAACTATTCGATCTGCCGCTCGACCAATTGCAAACATATAAGCCT48                             MetGlnLeuPheAspLeuProLeuAspGlnLeuGlnThrTyrLysPro                               1510 15                                                                        GAAAAAACAGCACCGAAAGATTTTTCTGAGTTTTGGAAATTGTCTTTG96                             GluLysThrAlaProLysAspPheSerGluPheTrpLysLeuSerLeu                               2025 30                                                                        GAGGAACTTGCAAAAGTCCAAGCAGAACCTGATCTACAGCCGGTTGAC144                            GluGluLeuAlaLysValGlnAlaGluProAspLeuGlnProValAsp                               35404 5                                                                        TATCCTGCTGACGGAGTAAAAGTGTACCGTCTCACATATAAAAGCTTC192                            TyrProAlaAspGlyValLysValTyrArgLeuThrTyrLysSerPhe                               505560                                                                         GGAAAC GCCCGCATTACCGGATGGTACGCGGTGCCTGACAAGCAAGGC240                           GlyAsnAlaArgIleThrGlyTrpTyrAlaValProAspLysGlnGly                               65707580                                                                       CC GCATCCGGCGATCGTGAAATATCATGGCTACAATGCAAGCTATGAT288                           ProHisProAlaIleValLysTyrHisGlyTyrAsnAlaSerTyrAsp                               859095                                                                         G GTGAGATTCATGAAATGGTAAACTGGGCACTCCATGGCTACGCCGCA336                           GlyGluIleHisGluMetValAsnTrpAlaLeuHisGlyTyrAlaAla                               100105110                                                                      TTC GGCATGCTTGTCCGCGGCCAGCAGAGCAGCGAGGATACGAGTATT384                           PheGlyMetLeuValArgGlyGlnGlnSerSerGluAspThrSerIle                               115120125                                                                      TCACTGCAC GGTCATGCTTTGGGCTGGATGACGAAAGGAATTCTTGAT432                           SerLeuHisGlyHisAlaLeuGlyTrpMetThrLysGlyIleLeuAsp                               130135140                                                                      AAAGATACATACTATTA CCGCGGTGTTTATTTGGACGCCGTCCGCGCG480                           LysAspThrTyrTyrTyrArgGlyValTyrLeuAspAlaValArgAla                               145150155160                                                                   CTTGAGGTCATCA GCAGCTTCGACGAGGTTGACGAAACAAGGATCGGT528                           LeuGluValIleSerSerPheAspGluValAspGluThrArgIleGly                               165170175                                                                      GTGACAGGAGGA AGCCAAGGCGGAGGTTTAACCATTGCCGCAGCAGCG576                           ValThrGlyGlySerGlnGlyGlyGlyLeuThrIleAlaAlaAlaAla                               180185190                                                                      CTGTCAGACATTCCA AAAGCCGCGGTTGCCGATTATCCTTATTTAAGC624                           LeuSerAspIleProLysAlaAlaValAlaAspTyrProTyrLeuSer                               195200205                                                                      AACTTCGAACGGGCCATTGA TGTGGCGCTTGAACAGCCGTACCTTGAA672                           AsnPheGluArgAlaIleAspValAlaLeuGluGlnProTyrLeuGlu                               210215220                                                                      ATCAATTCCTTCTTCAGAAGAAATGGCA GCCCGGAAACAGAAGTGCAG720                           IleAsnSerPhePheArgArgAsnGlySerProGluThrGluValGln                               225230235240                                                                   GCGATGAAGACACTTTCATATTTC GATATTATGAATCTCGCTGACCGA768                           AlaMetLysThrLeuSerTyrPheAspIleMetAsnLeuAlaAspArg                               245250255                                                                      GTGAAGGTGCCTGTCCTGATGTCA ATCGGCCTGATTGACAAGGTCACG816                           ValLysValProValLeuMetSerIleGlyLeuIleAspLysValThr                               260265270                                                                      CCGCCGTCCACCGTGTTTGCCGCCTA CAATCATTTGGAAACAGAGAAA864                           ProProSerThrValPheAlaAlaTyrAsnHisLeuGluThrGluLys                               275280285                                                                      GAGCTGAAGGTGTACCGCTACTTCGGACATG AGTATATCCCTGCTTTT912                           GluLeuLysValTyrArgTyrPheGlyHisGluTyrIleProAlaPhe                               290295300                                                                      CAAACGGAAAAACTTGCTTTCTTTAAGCAGCATCTTAAA GGCTGA957                              GlnThrGluLysLeuAlaPhePheLysGlnHisLeuLysGly                                     305310315                                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 318 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:                                        MetGlnLeuPheAspLeuProLeuAspGlnLeuGlnThrTyrLysPro                               151015                                                                         GluLysThrAlaProLysAspPheSerGlu PheTrpLysLeuSerLeu                              202530                                                                         GluGluLeuAlaLysValGlnAlaGluProAspLeuGlnProValAsp                               354045                                                                         TyrProAlaAspGlyValLysValTyrArgLeuThrTyrLysSerPhe                               505560                                                                         GlyAsnAlaArgIleThrGlyTrpTyrAlaValProAspLysGlnGly                               65 707580                                                                      ProHisProAlaIleValLysTyrHisGlyTyrAsnAlaSerTyrAsp                               859095                                                                         GlyGluIleHisGluMet ValAsnTrpAlaLeuHisGlyTyrAlaAla                              100105110                                                                      PheGlyMetLeuValArgGlyGlnGlnSerSerGluAspThrSerIle                               115120 125                                                                     SerLeuHisGlyHisAlaLeuGlyTrpMetThrLysGlyIleLeuAsp                               130135140                                                                      LysAspThrTyrTyrTyrArgGlyValTyrLeuAspAlaValArgAla                               14 5150155160                                                                  LeuGluValIleSerSerPheAspGluValAspGluThrArgIleGly                               165170175                                                                      ValThrG lyGlySerGlnGlyGlyGlyLeuThrIleAlaAlaAlaAla                              180185190                                                                      LeuSerAspIleProLysAlaAlaValAlaAspTyrProTyrLeuSer                               195 200205                                                                     AsnPheGluArgAlaIleAspValAlaLeuGluGlnProTyrLeuGlu                               210215220                                                                      IleAsnSerPhePheArgArgAsnGlySerProGluThr GluValGln                              225230235240                                                                   AlaMetLysThrLeuSerTyrPheAspIleMetAsnLeuAlaAspArg                               245250 255                                                                     ValLysValProValLeuMetSerIleGlyLeuIleAspLysValThr                               260265270                                                                      ProProSerThrValPheAlaAlaTyrAsnHisLeuGluThrGluLys                                275280285                                                                     GluLeuLysValTyrArgTyrPheGlyHisGluTyrIleProAlaPhe                               290295300                                                                      GlnThrGluLysLeuAlaPhePheLysG lnHisLeuLysGly                                    305310315                                                                      (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 34 amino acids                                                     (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:                                        Tyr HisGlyTyrAsnAlaSerTyrAspGlyGluIleHisGluMetVal                              151015                                                                         AsnTrpAlaLeuHisGlyTyrAlaAlaPheGlyMetLeuValXaaGly                                202530                                                                        GlnGln                                                                         (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 6 amino acids                                                      (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:                                         GluMetValAsnTrpAla                                                            15                                                                             (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: double                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:                                        GARATGGTNAAYTGGG C17                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7:                                        GCCCARTTNACCAT YTC17                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:8:                                        GCCCARTTAACCATYTC 17                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9:                                               (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:9:                                        GCCCARTTTACCATYTC 17                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:10:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:10:                                       GCCCARTTGACCATYTC 17                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs                                                      (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:11:                                       GCCCARTTCACCATYTC 17                                                           (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:12:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 2046 base pairs                                                    (B) TYPE: nucleic acid                                                         (C) STRANDEDNESS: single                                                       (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)                                              (ix) FEATURE:                                                                  (A) NAME/KEY: CDS                                                              (B) LOCATION: 184..1140                                                        (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:12:                                       AAAGAACCGCTATGTCAG TCTGACGGCCCAGGCCTTTATGGAACTAAGCCGGGAAAGTCT60                TAAACAAACGTTTGATGAAGGCTGTCTGGGAAACAAAGATGAAAATATTTAGAAAACAAA120                GACGAAACGTGGTAGTATAGGAATACAAACTAAATCTTATAAAACAAAGGGGAATAATCG 180               GAAATGCAACTATTCGATCTGCCGCTCGACCAATTGCAAACATATAAG228                            MetGlnLeuPheAspLeuProLeuAspGlnLeuGlnThrTyrLys                                  1510 15                                                                        CCTGAAAAAACAGCACCGAAAGATTTTTCTGAGTTTTGGAAATTGTCT276                            ProGluLysThrAlaProLysAspPheSerGluPheTrpLysLeuSer                               2025 30                                                                        TTGGAGGAACTTGCAAAAGTCCAAGCAGAACCTGATCTACAGCCGGTT324                            LeuGluGluLeuAlaLysValGlnAlaGluProAspLeuGlnProVal                               3540 45                                                                        GACTATCCTGCTGACGGAGTAAAAGTGTACCGTCTCACATATAAAAGC372                            AspTyrProAlaAspGlyValLysValTyrArgLeuThrTyrLysSer                               505560                                                                         TTCGGAAACGCCCGCATTACCGGATGGTACGCGGTGCCTGACAAGCAA420                            PheGlyAsnAlaArgIleThrGlyTrpTyrAlaValProAspLysGln                               657075                                                                         GGCCCGC ATCCGGCGATCGTGAAATATCATGGCTACAATGCAAGCTAT468                           GlyProHisProAlaIleValLysTyrHisGlyTyrAsnAlaSerTyr                               80859095                                                                       GAT GGTGAGATTCATGAAATGGTAAACTGGGCACTCCATGGCTACGCC516                           AspGlyGluIleHisGluMetValAsnTrpAlaLeuHisGlyTyrAla                               100105110                                                                      GCA TTCGGCATGCTTGTCCGCGGCCAGCAGAGCAGCGAGGATACGAGT564                           AlaPheGlyMetLeuValArgGlyGlnGlnSerSerGluAspThrSer                               115120125                                                                      ATTTC ACTGCACGGTCATGCTTTGGGCTGGATGACGAAAGGAATTCTT612                           IleSerLeuHisGlyHisAlaLeuGlyTrpMetThrLysGlyIleLeu                               130135140                                                                      GATAAAGATA CATACTATTACCGCGGTGTTTATTTGGACGCCGTCCGC660                           AspLysAspThrTyrTyrTyrArgGlyValTyrLeuAspAlaValArg                               145150155                                                                      GCGCTTGAGGTCATCAGC AGCTTCGACGAGGTTGACGAAACAAGGATC708                           AlaLeuGluValIleSerSerPheAspGluValAspGluThrArgIle                               160165170175                                                                   GGTGTGACAGGAGGA AGCCAAGGCGGAGGTTTAACCATTGCCGCAGCA756                           GlyValThrGlyGlySerGlnGlyGlyGlyLeuThrIleAlaAlaAla                               180185190                                                                      GCGCTGTCAGACAT TCCAAAAGCCGCGGTTGCCGATTATCCTTATTTA804                           AlaLeuSerAspIleProLysAlaAlaValAlaAspTyrProTyrLeu                               195200205                                                                      AGCAACTTCGAACGGG CCATTGATGTGGCGCTTGAACAGCCGTACCTT852                           SerAsnPheGluArgAlaIleAspValAlaLeuGluGlnProTyrLeu                               210215220                                                                      GAAATCAATTCCTTCTTCAGA AGAAATGGCAGCCCGGAAACAGAAGTG900                           GluIleAsnSerPhePheArgArgAsnGlySerProGluThrGluVal                               225230235                                                                      CAGGCGATGAAGACACTTTCATATTTCGAT ATTATGAATCTCGCTGAC948                           GlnAlaMetLysThrLeuSerTyrPheAspIleMetAsnLeuAlaAsp                               240245250255                                                                   CGAGTGAAGGTGCCTGTCCTGATGTC AATCGGCCTGATTGACAAGGTC996                           ArgValLysValProValLeuMetSerIleGlyLeuIleAspLysVal                               260265270                                                                      ACGCCGCCGTCCACCGTGTTTGCCG CCTACAATCATTTGGAAACAGAG1044                          ThrProProSerThrValPheAlaAlaTyrAsnHisLeuGluThrGlu                               275280285                                                                      AAAGAGCTGAAGGTGTACCGCTACTTC GGACATGAGTATATCCCTGCT1092                          LysGluLeuLysValTyrArgTyrPheGlyHisGluTyrIleProAla                               290295300                                                                      TTTCAAACGGAAAAACTTGCTTTCTTTAAGCAG CATCTTAAAGGCTGATAAAT1147                     PheGlnThrGluLysLeuAlaPhePheLysGlnHisLeuLysGly                                  305310315                                                                      GAAAAGCCGCCGCATATCATCAGGCGGTTTTTTTCTGCAAACTGCCGGAATGA GAACAGA1207              CTGGAGACGAATAGATATGAAACAAAGAATCATTAATGAATTAAAACGGATCGAGCAGTC1267               ATACGGAGTCAAAATCGTGTATGCCGTCGAGTCAGGAAGCCGCGCATGGGGATTTCCCTC1327               GCAGGATAGTGATTACGACGTCCGCTTTAT TTATGTGCCGAAAAAGGAGTGGTACTTTTC1387              AATTGAGCAGGAGCGTGATGTCATTGAGGAACCGATTCACGATTTGCTGGATATCAGCGG1447               CTGGGAGCTGAGAAAAACGCTTCGGCTTTTCAAAAAGTCAAACCCTCCGCTCCTCGAATG1507               GCTGTCCT CAGACATTGTGTATTACGAAGCATTTACGACCGCAGAGCAGTTAAGAAAACT1567              GCGCACGGAGGCATTTAAGCCTGAAGCAAGCGTGTATCACTATATCAATATGGCGAGAAG1627               GAACGTCAAAGATTATCTACAAGGACAAGAGGTCAAAATTAAAAAGTACTTCT ACGTTCT1687              TCGGCCTATTTTGGCTGCAATGGATTGAAAGCACGGAACCATACCGCCAATGGACTTTAC1747               TGTTTTGATGAATGAACTTGTTGCTGAACCCGAGCTGAAGGCTGAAATGGAAACCTTGCT1807               TGAACGGAAAAGAAGAGGGGAAGAGATTGA CCTCGAATCAAAGAACTGATGTAATTCACC1867              AATTCATTGAAACGGAAATCGAAAGAATCATGGAAGCACAAAAAGAACTGAAGGCAGAGA1927               AAAAAGATATGACATCTGAATTGAACCGTTTACTTTTGAATACGGTTGAAGAAGTGTGGA1987               AGGATGGA GGAAGCTGATGTTTTTTGTCGCTTCCTTTTCTCCTTTATTCGACAGAATTC2046               (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:13:                                              (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:                                                  (A) LENGTH: 318 amino acids                                                    (B) TYPE: amino acid                                                           (D) TOPOLOGY: linear                                                           (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein                                                    (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:13:                                       MetGlnLeuPheAspLeu ProLeuAspGlnLeuGlnThrTyrLysPro                              151015                                                                         GluLysThrAlaProLysAspPheSerGluPheTrpLysLeuSerLeu                               20 2530                                                                        GluGluLeuAlaLysValGlnAlaGluProAspLeuGlnProValAsp                               354045                                                                         TyrProAlaAspGlyValLysValTyrArgLeuThrTyrLys SerPhe                              505560                                                                         GlyAsnAlaArgIleThrGlyTrpTyrAlaValProAspLysGlnGly                               65707580                                                                       ProHisP roAlaIleValLysTyrHisGlyTyrAsnAlaSerTyrAsp                              859095                                                                         GlyGluIleHisGluMetValAsnTrpAlaLeuHisGlyTyrAlaAla                               100 105110                                                                     PheGlyMetLeuValArgGlyGlnGlnSerSerGluAspThrSerIle                               115120125                                                                      SerLeuHisGlyHisAlaLeuGlyTrpMet ThrLysGlyIleLeuAsp                              130135140                                                                      LysAspThrTyrTyrTyrArgGlyValTyrLeuAspAlaValArgAla                               145150155 160                                                                  LeuGluValIleSerSerPheAspGluValAspGluThrArgIleGly                               165170175                                                                      ValThrGlyGlySerGlnGlyGlyGlyLeuThrIleAlaAlaAlaAla                                180185190                                                                     LeuSerAspIleProLysAlaAlaValAlaAspTyrProTyrLeuSer                               195200205                                                                      AsnPheGluArgAlaIleA spValAlaLeuGluGlnProTyrLeuGlu                              210215220                                                                      IleAsnSerPhePheArgArgAsnGlySerProGluThrGluValGln                               225230235 240                                                                  AlaMetLysThrLeuSerTyrPheAspIleMetAsnLeuAlaAspArg                               245250255                                                                      ValLysValProValLeuMetSerIleGlyLeuIleAsp LysValThr                              260265270                                                                      ProProSerThrValPheAlaAlaTyrAsnHisLeuGluThrGluLys                               275280285                                                                      GluLeuLy sValTyrArgTyrPheGlyHisGluTyrIleProAlaPhe                              290295300                                                                      GlnThrGluLysLeuAlaPhePheLysGlnHisLeuLysGly                                     305310 315                                                                 

What is claimed is:
 1. An isolated DNA molecule encoding the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO:
 1. 2. A recombinant DNA molecule prepared by introducing the DNA molecule of claim 1 into a vector used in an Escherichia coli host-vector system.
 3. An Escherichia coli cell transformed with the recombinant DNA molecule of claim
 2. 4. A process for preparing a protein having the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ. ID NO. 1, characterized in that an Escherichia coli cell according to claim 3 is cultured in a medium and said protein is recovered from the cultured fluid.
 5. A process for preparing a protein having the amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 and further containing methionine at the amino-terminus of the amino acid sequence depicted in FIG. 1, characterized in that an Escherichia coli cell according to claim 3 is cultured in a medium and said protein is recovered from the cultured fluid.
 6. A process for preparing an enzyme composed of a multimer of the protein of claim 16, characterized in that the Escherichia coli cell of claim 3 is cultured in a medium and said enzyme is recovered from the cultured fluid.
 7. A process for preparing an enzyme composed of a multimer of the protein of claim 5, characterized in that the Escherichia coli cell of claim 3 is cultured in a medium and said enzyme is recovered from the cultured fluid.
 8. A process for preparing the enzyme of claim 6, which is a tetramer or octamer of said protein, characterized in that the Escherichia coli cell of claim 3 is cultured in a medium and said enzyme is recovered from the cultured fluid.
 9. A process for preparing the enzyme of claim 7 which is a tetramer or octamer of said protein, characterized in that the Escherichia coli cell of claim 3 is cultured in a medium and said enzyme is recovered from the cultured fluid. 